Box Score
MANCHESTER, N.H. – Sloane Sorrell (Berwick, Maine) scored 17 of her 19 points in the second half, including the 1,000th of her career, as Southern New Hampshire University posted a 66-59 Northeast-10 women's basketball victory over Stonehill College Tuesday night at the SNHU Fieldhouse. The Penmen snapped a three-game slide and improved to 18-8 overall and 13-7 in the NE-10, while the Skyhawks are now 12-12 and 8-12 in the league.
The win, coupled with Franklin Pierce's loss at league-leading Bentley, moved Southern New Hampshire into a three-way tie for fifth in the NE-10 standings.
Sorrell finished 7-11 from the floor and also grabbed 10 rebounds in just 19 minutes after playing just six minutes due to foul trouble in the first half. She became the 15th player in program history with 1,000 career points when she made a pair of free throws with 15:26 remaining in the second half. Megan Smith (Smithfield, Maine) and Victoria Wiseman (Montreal, Quebec) each netted 12 points, with Wiseman grabbing seven rebounds. Christine Duffy (South Boston, Mass.) registered her third-straight double-digit assist game, handing out 12 assists to break the single-season school record of 207.
Mary Louise Dixon led Stonehill with 23 points, nine assists and six rebounds, while Tori Faieta added 10 points.
Southern New Hampshire led by as many as 11 and held a 53-45 lead with 5:35 to go when Stonehill used a 12-4 run to tie the game 57-57 on a three-pointer by Asia Ewing with 2:50 left. The Penmen would reclaim the lead on a reverse layup by Brooke Springfield (Jaffrey, N.H.) with 2:25 left, but Faieta tied the game with 1:41 left on a pair of free throws.
Sorrell gave Southern New Hampshire the lead for good with her basket with 1:33 left that made it 61-59. The Skyhawks would get two shot attempts on their next possession, but after the second miss Wiseman grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled, making 1-of-2 at the line with 1:06 left. Stonehill would again come up empty, and Duffy would make a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left to seal the victory.
The Penmen never trailed and opened up a 13-3 lead seven minutes into the game following a Smith basket. SNHU held an 18-7 lead with 9:28 remaining and led 25-15 when the Skyhawks made a late 10-2 run to pull within two, 27-25, with 25 seconds left on a Dixon basket. A driving layup by Duffy eight seconds before intermission gave the hosts a 29-25 lead at the break.
Southern New Hampshire shot 53.8% in the second half and 50.9% for the contest while limiting Stonehill to 34.5% in the first half and 41.1% for the game. The Skyhawks held a 35-32 rebounding advantage and were 8-13 at the free throw line and 5-17 behind the arc, while the Penmen were 9-17 at the stripe while knocking down three of their six three-point attempts.
SNHU returns to action Saturday afternoon when it travels to Merrimack College for a 1:00 Northeast-10 contest.
